Siding fastener



Feb. 22, 1966 G. A. KOENIGSHOF SIDING FASTENER 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed May '7, 1962 ATTORNEY5 BY B P BMM, um LL i /d v Feb. 22, 1966 Filed May '7, 1962 b\ x \X G- A. KOENIGSHOF SIDING FASTENER 3%,Da-M

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ATTORNEY Feb. 22, 1966 KOENIGSHOF 3,236,016

SIDING FASTENER Filed May '7, 1962 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 INVENTOR 615 440 n. Imam/wax;-

flw, AM, Mb; A-4m ATTORNEY5 United States Patent 3,236,016 SIDENG FASTENER Gerald A. Koeuigshof, Kensington, Md, assignor to Timber Engineering Company, District of Columbia, a corporation of Delaware Filed May 7, 1962, Ser. No. 193,903 8 Claims. (Cl. 52-548) This invention relates to a fastener, and more particularly, to a mechanical fastener for attaching wood siding to walls. This application is a continuation-in-part of my copending application, Serial No. 112,612, filed May 25, 1961, and now abandoned.

One of the most popular types of wood siding is beveled siding, which is applied to a wall in overlapping courses. Beveled siding, however, is becoming increasingly expensive to install due to the rise in cost of labor. A skilled carpenter must be employed to measure and determine the proper alignment and spacing of the siding and to nail the siding in place. He must also set the nails and apply putty over each nail head. In addition to the carpenters time, a painter must be employed to apply two or more coats of paint after the siding has been installed.

The painting costs could be reduced substantially by completely finishing and painting the siding at the mill, using modern production techniques. However, if the siding is prefinished, it cannot be satisfactorily installed by conventional techniques, since this will require nail holes to be driven through the finished surface of the siding.

Various attempts have been made to provide fasteners for prefinished siding which would not damage the finished surface of the siding. One method is to use a horizontal strip or bracket which is attached to the studding and extends downward over the top edge of the siding to engage a saw kerf in the butt edge of the next course. This method requires additional machining of the siding and there is a danger of moisture accumulating in the saw kerf. It is also undesirable because the fastener is not completely concealed.

Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide a fastener for siding which permits the siding to be installed without damage to prefinished surfaces of the siding.

It is a further object of this invention to provide a fastener which is completely concealed when the siding is installed.

A still further object of this invention is to provide a fastener which permits a more efficient technique for installing beveled siding.

Another object of this invention is to provide a fastener for siding which will automatically align the siding as it is installed.

In accordance with a preferred embodiment of the invention, a plurality of metal strips are applied vertically over the sheathing of an exterior wall. The strips are uniformly spaced horizontally from each other and each strip is provided with a series of retainer tabs and upturned teeth spaced uniformly along the length of the strip. A retainer tab and a pair of teeth are provided adjacent to each other on the strip with the retainer tab positioned below the pair of teeth. The retainer tabs and teeth of each vertical strip are in horizontal alignment with corresponding tabs and teeth of adjacent strips. Nail holes may be provided in the strip as a reference point for horizontally aligning the strips. The distance between the retainer tab and the next lower pair of teeth on the strip is slightly less than the width of a piece of siding. The siding is installed on the strip by sliding the top edge of the siding under the retainer tab and by forcing the lower edge of the siding to be impaled on the teeth by hand pressure or with light tapping from a soft hammer. The teeth are curved so that they will spread apart as the siding is pushed onto the teeth.

Several preferred embodiments of the invention are illustrated in the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is an elevational view of an exterior wall showing several courses of siding applied;

FIG. 2 is a cross sectional view of the wall and siding along the line 22 in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a plan view of one embodiment of the siding fastener;

FIG. 4 is an elevational view of the fastener;

FIG. 5 is a cross sectional view of the fastener along the line 5-5 in FIG. 3;

FIG. 6 is an enlarged cross sectional view along the line 6-6 in FIG. 1, showing the siding fastener installed;

FIG. 7 is an enlarged cross sectional view along the line 7-7 in FIG. 1, showing a course of siding anchored in place by the fasteners;

FIG. 8 is an elevational view of a modified form of the siding fastener of this invention;

FIG. 9 is a plan view of the modified form of the siding fastener in FIG. 8;

FIG. 10 is an elevational view of another modified form of the siding fastener;

FIG. 11 is a plan view of the modified form of the siding fastener shown in FIG. 10; and

FIG. 12 is an enlarged perspective view of a portion of the modified form of the siding fastener shown in FIG. 10.

A typical exterior wall, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 is built on a foundation 1. A sill 2 is secured along the top of the foundation and spaced from the outer edge of the foundation wall. Studding 3 is secured to the sill 2 at spaced intervals along the length of the sill. Sheathing 4, which may consist of thin boards or plywood, is applied to the outer edge of the studding 3. A moisture sealing material, such as building paper, may be applied to the surface of the sheathing 4.

A siding fastener, referring to FIGS. 3, 4 and 5, includes a strip of metal 5. The strip is channeled, as shown in FIG. 5, to increase its resistance to longitudinal bending. The fastener is formed of two elements, a retainer tab 6 and a pair of teeth 7, which are secured to the strip 5. The lip portion 8 of the tab 6 is spaced from the surface of the strip 5 by a shank portion 9. The distance between the lip 8 and the surface of the strip 5 is substantially the same as the thickness of the top edge of the siding. The tab 6 aligns the siding and provides resistance to pulling the siding away from the sheathing after it is installed on the siding fasteners.

Adjacent to the retainer tab 6, teeth 7 are secured to the strip 5. The base 10 of the teeth 7 has an enlarged cross section, as shown in FIG. 5, to provide a rigid support for the teeth. The shank portion 11 of each tooth is formed in a circular arc and each tooth 7 of the pair is curved oppositely from the other, as shown in FIG. 4. The ends of the teeth are provided with points 12, which are directed outwardly to facilitate spreading the teeth when a piece of wood siding is impaled on them. The grain of the wood siding is along the length of the siding and accordingly, the shank portions 11 of the teeth are thin to facilitate separating the wood fibers as the siding is applied. The length of the teeth 7 depends on the thickness of the siding. The teeth must be short enough to insure that they will not pierce the outer surface of the siding. The tab 6 also limits penetration of a siding board on the teeth 7.

The retainer tab 6 and teeth 7 are secured to the strip 5 at spaced intervals along the strip. The distance between the retainer tabs and teeth depends on the width of the siding to be used. The distance between the retainer 3 tabs is slightly less than the width of the siding. This distance may be varied, however, to change the extent of overlap of each course of siding.

As shown in FIG. 6, the strip is attached to the sheathing 4 by a nail 13 adjacent to each of teeth 7, which extends through the sheathing 4 into the studding 3. Nail holes are preferably predrilled in the strip 5 at a uniform distance from each retainer tab. The nail holes can then be used to facilitate the alignment of adjacent fastener strips 5.

Referring to FIG. 1, fastener strips 5, with the retainer tabs of each strip in horizontal alignment with the corresponding retainer tabs of the adjacent strips, are nailed to the sheathing 4. The siding is installed, referring to FIG. 7, by inserting the top edge of a length of siding 14 under a tab 6. The inside of the siding rests against the points 12 of the teeth 7. The siding is then impaled on the teeth 7 by tapping against the outside surface of the siding with a soft rubber or felt mallet. Due to the curved shank 11 of the teeth, they will spread apart, as shown in FIG. 7, as they are driven into the wood. The interior face of the siding engages the lip portion 8 of the tab 6, which limits penetration of the teeth into the siding and provides a predetermined spacing between the wall and the siding. When thus installed, the deformed teeth will resist an outward pull on the siding.

In practice, to apply siding to a wall, fastener strips 5 are cut off at the desired length to give adequate spacing between the last useable retainer tab and the top of the foundation 1. Fastener strips 5 are secured to the studs at each end of the wall. A snap line is then strung between corresponding nail holes in the fastener strips 5. The intermediate strips 5 can then be secured to their respective studs by vertically aligning each strip with the marked line.

In the conventional building method it is necessary to use a starter strip at the base of the wall to give the first course of siding the desired slope. As shown in FIGS. 2 and 7,'a starter strip is not necessary since the base 10 and the lip 8 of the retainer tab separate the siding from the sheathing and provide the proper slope for the first course of siding. The spacing at the bottom of the wall between the siding and wall provided by the fastener "forms a vent moisture which collects behind the siding.

The first course of siding is applied at the bottom of the wall and each successive course of siding is then attached over the preceding course, as previously described, until the wall is covered. It will be seen in FIG. 1 that the fasteners are completely concealed under the siding and the prefinished surface of the siding is not broken or damaged.

Flat or round wire could be used instead of the channeled strip 5. It may also be more economical to form the retainer tabs 6 and teeth 7 out of the wire. They could be secured to the wire strip by welding. To increase their holding strength, an adhesive coating could be applied to the teeth or barbs could be formed on the shank of the teeth. Also, several-pairs of teeth may be used at each course.

The teeth 7 also can be used to fasten flush or drop type of siding. The fastener would be the same as that shown in the drawings, except that the retainer tab 6 would be removed. The strip 5 would be attached to the wall as described above and the prefinished flat siding hammered onto the teeth 7.

A modified form of the siding fastener is illustrated in FIGS. 8 and 9. A strip of metal 5' has a plurality of transverse ridges 14 at spaced intervals along the length thereof. The top of each ridge 14 is substantially flat and inclined relative to the surface of the metal strip 5'. The slope angle of the tops of the ridges 14 is preferably about five degrees to a plane through the length of the strip, and each ridge is inclined in the same direction. A tab 15 is secured to the top of each ridge 14. Each tab 15 extends outward from its respective ridge 14 in teeth 20 are laterally offset from each other.

the form of a cantilever to form a socket 16 between the tab 15 and a portion of the strip 5' to receive the top edge of a piece of beveled siding.

A pair of upstanding teeth 17 are secured to the surface of each tab 15. The teeth have curved shanks and are of substantially the same shape as those illustrated in FIGS. 3, 4 and 5, except that the teeth 17 are not provided with an enlarged base similar to the base 10 of the teeth 7 shown in FIGS. 4 and 5. Any conventional means may be used to secure the teeth 17 and the tabs 15 to the top of each ridge 14, such as by Welding, soldering or by an adhesive.

Another modification of the invention is illustrated in FIGS. 10, 11 and 12. In this form of the siding fastener, the teeth and tab are formed from a single piece of sheet metal, as shown particularly in FIG. 12. The fastener includes a base portion 18, a tab 19 and upstanding teeth 28. The teeth 20 have substantially the same shape as the teeth 17, shown in FIGS. 8 and 9, but the The base 18 of each fastener is secured to the top of each ridge 14 by welding or other conventional means.

The ridges 14 in the modified forms of the invention shown in FIGS. 8 to 12 provide a uniform locating surface for the siding after it has been applied to the teeth. When the siding is fully inserted on the teeth 17 or 20, the inside surface of the siding engages the fiat base portion of the teeth and each course will have substantially a uniform slope. Furthermore, the slope of the top of the ridge 14 positions the longitudinal axes of the teeth substantially perpendicular to the inside surface of the siding, in its installed position. The tabs 15 and 19 are inclined slightly to correspond to the slope of the siding caused by overlapping adjacent pieces of siding. Furthermore, the tabs 15 and 19 are elongated to compensate for shrinkage of the siding after it is installed and are preferably of suflicient thickness to provide a vent between adjacent courses of siding.

In the modified forms of the fastener which are illustrated in FIGS. 8 to 12, the ends of the teeth 17 and 20 are substantially square and bevelled outwardly. It has been found that the square ends of the teeth resist withdrawal of the teeth from the siding better thanpointed teeth of the same length. Apparently, this difference in resistance is due to the shape of the ends of the teeth. Square ended teeth engage the wood of the siding along the entire length of the teeth to resist withdrawal, while as soon as withdrawal begins, the ends of pointed teeth of the same length separate from the wood along their edges and are not effective at their pointed ends to resist withdrawal of the teeth.

This invention has many advantages over the conventional methods of attaching siding to a wall. The most important advantage is the reduction in cost due to the use of factory finished siding and a reduction in labor t me required. The fastener retainer tab automatically aligns each course of siding as it is installed, thereby reducing the time required by a carpenter to measure and align the siding. Also, the time required for installing a starter strip, as used in conventional methods, is eliminated since starter strips are not used.

The fastener of this invention permits the use of standard siding without additional machining of grooves or slots to engage the fastener. The resilience of the teeth and retainer tabs provide allowance for shinkage and expansion of the siding. The first course of siding is vented to prevent moisture from collecting behind the sidlng. The fastener is, therefore, an eificient and economical device for securing siding to a wall.

The siding fasteners of this invention are designed to be manufactured at a minimum of cost. The forms of the invention illustrated in FIGURES 8 to 12, for example, may beproduced out of coiled metal strip with the ridges 14 formed at uniform intervals. The preformed tabs and teeth are secured to the ridges 14'by Welding, and the strips are then cut to the desired lengths. Accordingly, a siding fastener made in accordance with this invention is inexpensive to produce and the additional cost of the use of siding fasteners is substantially less than the cost savings achieved by using prefinished siding.

While the invention has been illustrated and described in several modifications of one embodiment, it is recognized that variations and changes may be made therein, without departing from the invention as set forth in the claims.

I claim:

1. A fastener for anchoring on a wall siding of the type having opposite substantially parallel edges and covering the wall in a plurality of courses of siding boards wherein the bottom edge of one course of siding overlaps the top edge of the next lower course, said fastener comprising a strip, a tab on the strip, said tab having a lip portion overlying the strip and forming a socket between the strip and the lip portion, and a pair of teeth on the strip, said teeth extending outwardly from the strip a greater distance than said tab and having oppositely curved shank portions, said pair of teeth being on the opposite side of said tab from said socket, whereby the top edge of a siding board may be received in said socket and the teeth are in position to secure the lower edge of a siding board in overlapping relation with the top edge of the next lower adjacent course of siding.

2. A fastener for anchoring on a wall siding of the type having opposite substantially parallel edges and covering the wall in a plurality of courses of siding boards wherein the bottom edge of one course of siding overlaps the top edge of the next lower course, said fastener comprising a strip, a plurality of tabs on the strip, each of said tabs having a lip portion overlying the strip, each of said lip portions extending in the same direction and each forming a socket between the strip and the lip portion, and a plurality of pairs of teeth on the strip, said teeth extending outwardly from the strip a greater distance than said tabs, said teeth of each pair having oppositely curved shank portions, one of said pairs of teeth being adjacent each tab on the side thereof opposite said socket, whereby the top edges of the siding boards may be received in said sockets and the pairs of teeth are in position to secure the lower edge of siding boards in overlapping relation with the top edge of the next lower adjacent course of siding.

3. A fastener for anchoring on a wall siding of the type having opposite substantially parallel edges and covering the wall in a plurality of courses of siding boards wherein the bottom edge of one course of siding overlaps the top edge of the next lower course, said fastener comprising a strip, said strip having a ridge thereon, a tab on the ridge, said tab extending in overlying relation with the strip and forming a socket therebetween, a pair of teeth on the ridge, said teeth extending outwardly from the ridge a greater distance than said tab and having oppositely curved shank portions, said pair of teeth being on the opposite side of said tab from said socket, whereby the top edge of a siding board may be received in said socket and the teeth are in position to secure the lower edge of a siding board in overlapping relation with the top edge of the next lower adjacent course of siding.

4. Wood building construction comprising in combination a wall, a plurality of strips secured to said wall, each strip having a plurality of tabs thereon, each of said tabs having a lip portion overlying strip, each of said lip portions extending in the same direction and each forming a socket between the strip and the lip portion, a plurality of pairs of teeth on the strip, said teeth extending outwardly from the strip a greater distance than said tabs, said teeth of each pair having oppositely curved shank portions, one of said pairs of teeth being adjacent each tab on the side thereof opposite said socket, the spacing between said tabs and teeth being substantially uniform on each of said strips, said strips being positioned side by side on said wall with corresponding tabs, sockets and pairs of teeth being in substantial horizontal alignment, a plurality of courses of siding boards on said wall, said siding boards having opposite substantially parallel edges, the top edge of each siding board being inserted in a plurality of said horizontally aligned sockets, the lower edge of each siding board overlapping the top edge of the next adjacent lower siding board and being impaled on said horizontally aligned pairs of teeth.

5. In combination with siding of the type having exterior and interior faces and opposite substantially parallel edges and covering a wall in a plurality of courses of siding wherein the bottom edge of one course of siding overlaps the top edge of the next lower course, a fastener comprising a substantially striplike body means, means for impaling said body means on a wall, said wall impaling means projecting outwardly from the body means in one direction, means on said body means for impaling said siding, said siding impaling means projecting outwardly from said body means in a direction substantially opposite to said one direction and penetrating the interior face of siding, and abutment means on said body means, said abutment means extending between said overlapping exterior face of one course of siding and the overlapping interior face of an adjacent course of siding, said siding impaling means extending outwardly from the wall a greater distance than said abutment means whereby the abutment means spaces from a wall the bottom edge of overlapping siding and the siding impaling means secures the siding to the body portion of the fastener,

6. In combination with siding of the type having exterior and interior faces and opposite substantially parallel edges and covering the wall in a plurality of courses of siding wherein the bottom edge of one course of siding overlaps the top edge of the next lower course, a fastener comprising a substantially striplike body means, means for impaling said body means on a wall, said wall impaling means projecting outwardly from the body means in one direction, means on said body means for impaling said siding, said siding impaling means projecting outwardly from said body means in a direction substantially opposite to said one direction and penetrating the interior face of siding, an abutment on said body means, said abutment extending outwardly from the body means, said abutment engaging the top edge of one course of siding, said siding impaling means being spaced vertically of said body means from said abutment a distance less than the overlap of said courses of siding, whereby the abutment positions the top edge of one course of siding relative to the body means and the siding impaling means secures the bottom edge of an adjacent course of siding in overlapping relation on the top edge of said one course of siding.

7. A fastener for anchoring siding to a wall comprising a strip, a retainer tab on the strip, said retainer tab extending substantially normal to said strip and having a lip portion thereon, said lip portion being substantially parallel with said strip and being spaced therefrom, and a tooth on the strip, said tooth extending outwardly from said strip and having an end spaced at greater distance from said strip than said lip portion, said retainer tab and said tooth being on the same side of said strip, whereby said siding may be secured to a wall in overlapping relation when said lip portion overlaps the top edge of a sliding piece and the lower portion of an overlapping siding piece is impaled on the tooth and the strip is secured to a wall.

8. In combination with elongated non-metallic siding of the type having exterior and interior faces and opposite substantially parallel edges and covering a wall in a plurality of courses wherein the bottom edge of an upper course of siding boards overlaps the top edge of the next lower course of siding boards, a fastener comprising a strip, means on the strip Overlapping a portion of the exterior face and the top edge of a lower course siding board, a tooth on the strip projecting outwardly therefrom and penetrating the interior face of an upper course siding board, said tooth extending outwardly from the wall a greater distance than said overlapping means, and means for securing the strip to the Wall, whereby the overlapping means positions the top edge of a lower course siding board with respect to the wall, and limits penetration of the upper course siding board on the tooth, and the tooth resists pulling of the bottom edge of an upper course siding board away from the wall.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 386,329 7/1888 Luce et al 2092 XR 441,227 11/1890 Cary 2092 XR '8 740,046 9/1903 Salstrorn '20- 92 XR 1,297,523 3/1919 With 20-92 XR 1,470,251 10/1923 Ahlvin 20 92 XR 1,590,744 6/1926 Hatch 52 520 1,857,490 5/1932 Barrett 52 435 1,882,499 10/1932 Johns 52 454 1,890,928 12/1932 Black 52 551 2,003,996 6/1935 Finzer et a1. 52-482 2,200,649 5/1940 Wardle 52 582 2,213,355 9/1940 Woodworth 52 303 2,319,857 5/1943 Gray 52 519 2,349,547 5/1944 Gisondi 20- 92 XR 15 RiCI-IARD W. COOKE, JR, Primary Examiner.

HENRY C. SUTHERLAND, BENJAMIN BENDETT,

JACOB L. NACKENOFF, Examiners. 

6. IN COMBINATION WITH SLIDING OF THE TYPE HAVING EXTERIOR AND INTERIOR FACES AND OPPOSITE SUBSTANTIALLY PARALLEL EDGES AND COVERING THE WALL IN A PLURALITY OF COURSES OF SLIDING WHEREIN THE BOTTOM EDGE OF ONE COURSE OF SIDING OVERLAPS THE TOP EDGE OF THE NEXT LOWER COURSE, A FASTENER COMPRISING A SUBSTANTIALLY STRIPLIKE BODY MEANS, MEANS FOR IMPALING SAID BODY MEANS ON A WALL, SAID WALL IMPALING MEANS PROJECTING OUTWARDLY FROM THE BODY MEANS IN ONE DIRECTION, MEANS ON SAID BODY MEANS FOR IMPALING SAID SIDING, SAID SIDING IMPALING MEANS PROJECTING OUTWARDLY FROM SAID BODY MEANS IN A DIRECTION SUBSTANTIALLY OPPOSTE TO SAID ONE DIRECTION AND PENETRATING THE INTERIOR FACE OF SIDING, AN ABUTMENT ON SAID BODY MEANS, SAID ABUTMENT EXTENDING OUTWARDLY FROM THE BODY MEANS, SAID ABUTMENT ENGAGING THE TOP EDGE OF ONE COURSE OF SIDING, SAID SIDING IMPALING MEANS BEING SPACED VERTICALLY OF SAID BODY MEANS FROM SAID ABUTMENT A DISTANCE LESS THAN THE OVERLAP OF SAID COURSES OF SIDING, WHEREBY THE ABUTMENT POSITIONS THE TOP EDGE OF ONE COURSE OF SIDING RELATIVE TO THE BODY MEANS AND THE SIDING IMPALING MEANS SECURES THE BOTTOM EDGE OF AN ADJACENT COURSE OF SIDING IN OVERLAPPING RELATION ON THE TOP EDGE OF SAID ONE COURSE OF SIDING. 